Russian Revival architecture

Like the Romantic revivals of Western Europe, the Russian Revival was informed by a scholarly interest in the historic monuments of the nation. The historicism resonated with the popular nationalism and pan-Slavism of the period. The first illustrated account of Russian architecture was the project of Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, 1st Prince of San Donato and French draughtsman André Durand, the record of their 1839 tour of Russia was published in Paris in the 1840s as Voyage Pittoresque et Archéologique en Russie. Durand's lithographs betray a foreigner's sensitivity to the seeming otherness of Russian architecture, displaying some curiously distorted features, and while they are, on the whole, fairly accurate representations, the folios that he produced belong to the genre of travel literature rather than historical inquiry.

The attempt to discern the chronology and development of Russia's building begins in earnest with Ivan Snegirev and A.A. Martynov's The old Russia in its ecclesiastical and civil architectural monuments («Русская старина в памятниках церковного и гражданского зодчества») (Moscow, 1851). The state took an interest in the endeavour by sponsoring a series of folios published as The antiquities of the realm of Russia («Древности российского государства») (Moscow 1849–1853, 6 vol.) depicting antiquities and decorative works of art. By this time the {{ill|Moscow Archeological Society|fr|Société impériale d'archéologie|ru|Московское археологическое общество|uk|Московське археологічне товариство|lt=Moscow Archaeological Society}} undertook research on the subject, formalising it as a field of study. A series of triennial conferences was instituted from 1869 to 1915, and its reports included studies of the architecture of the Kievian Rus' and early Moscow periods. Perhaps the Society's most significant achievement was the publication of the Proceedings of the Commission on conservation of the old monuments («Труды Комиссии по сохранению древних памятников») in 6 volumes between 1907 and 1915. Also, the St. Petersburg Academy of fine Arts commissioned research from V.V. Suslov in the form of his two multi-volume works The monuments of the old Russian architecture («Памятники древнего русского зодчества») (1895–1901, 7 vol.) and The monuments of the old Russian art («Памятники древнерусского искусства») (1908–1912, 4 vol.). With the application of positivist historical principals the chronology of Russian architecture was firmly established by the time of the publication of that definitive 6-volume survey of Russian art The Russian art history («История русского искусства») (1909–1917), edited by Igor Grabar; the appearance of the final volume was, however, interrupted by the Russian Revolution.

{{gallery|mode=packed

| title = Neo-Russian style examples

|File:The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.jpg|Church of the Savior on Blood in Central Saint Petersburg

|File:Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Peterhof 01.jpg|Sts Peter and Paul's Cathedral in Petergof, Saint Petersburg

|File:Państwowe Muzeum Historyczne w Moskwie 01.JPG|State Historical Museum in Moscow

|File:Svyato Mihailovsky Cathedral Izhevsk Russia Richard Bartz Alt.jpg|St. Michael's Cathedral in Izhevsk

|File:Колокольня 3.jpg|Bell tower of the {{Ill|Epiphany Cathedral (Kazan)|ru|Богоявленский собор (Казань)|lt=Epiphany Cathedral}} in Kazan, Tatarstan

|File:Колокольня - panoramio (5).jpg|Chernigovsky skete in Sergiyev Posad

}}

Image:Russische Orthodoxe Kirche Alexander Newski Potsdam.jpg in Potsdam]]

The first extant example of Byzantine Revival in Russian architecture and the first example ever built stands in Potsdam, Germany, the five-domed Alexander Nevsky Memorial Church by Vasily Stasov (builder of neoclassical Trinity Cathedral, St. Petersburg, father of critic Vladimir Stasov). The following year, Stasov completed the larger five-domed Church of the Tithes in Kiev.

The Russo-Byzantine idea was carried forward by Konstantin Thon with the firm approval by Nicholas I. Thon's style embodied the idea of continuity between Byzantium and Russia, perfectly matching the ideology of Nicholas I. Russian-Byzantine architecture is characterised by mixing the composition methods and vaulted arches of Byzantine architecture with ancient Russian exterior ornaments, and were vividly realised in Thon's 'model projects'. In 1838, Nicholas I "pointed out" Thon's book of model designs to all architects; more enforcement followed in 1841 and 1844.Russian: Власов, В.Г., "Большой энциклопедический словарь изобразительного искусства", 2000, ст."Русско-византийский стиль" Buildings designed by Thon or based on Thon's designs were Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Armoury in Moscow, also cathedrals in Sveaborg, Yelets, Tomsk, Rostov-on-Don and Krasnoyarsk.

Official enforcement of Byzantine architecture was, in fact, very limited: it applied only to new church construction and, to a lesser extent, to royal palaces. Private and public construction proceeded independently. Thon's own public buildings, like the pseudo-Renaissance Nikolaevsky Terminal, lack any Byzantine features. A closer look at churches constructed in Nicholas' reign reveals many first-rate neoclassical buildings, like the Elokhovo Cathedral in Moscow (1837–1845) by Yevgraph Tyurin."Moscow. Monuments of Architecture, 18th – the first third of 19th century", Moscow, Iskusstvo, 1975, p.331 Official Byzantine art was not absolute in Nicholas reign; it is scarce in our days, as the Byzantine churches, declared 'worthless' by Bolsheviks, were the first to be demolished in the Soviet era.

Image:"Усадьба В.П. Сукачева", фасад здания Картинной галереи.jpg]]

Image:Иркутск. Дом Шастиных 1.JPG]]

Image:Дом Степановых (Челябинск).JPG]]

Image:Асташовский терем, 2019.jpg]]

Another direction taken by the Russian Revival style was a reaction against official Thon art, influenced by Romanticism, Slavophilism and detailed studies of vernacular architecture. The forerunner of this trend in church design was Alexey Gornostaev (in his later years, 1848–1862), notable for reinventing Northern Russian tented roof motif augmented with Romanesque and Renaissance vault structure. An early extant example in civil architecture is the wooden {{Ill|Pogodinsky Cottage|ru|Погодинская изба}} in Devichye Pole, Moscow, by Nikolai Nikitin (1856).[http://www.msk-guide.ru/foto_991.htm photo]

File:Russian Orthodox Cathedral Nice France.jpg

The Emancipation reform of 1861 and subsequent reforms of Alexander II pushed the liberal elite into exploring the roots of national culture. The first result of these studies in architecture was a birth of "folk" or Pseudo-Russian style, exemplified by 1870s works of Ivan Ropet (Terem in Abramtsevo, 1873) and Viktor Hartmann (Mamontov printing house, 1872). These artists, in alliance with Narodnik movement, idealized the peasant life and created their own vision of "vernacular" architecture. Another factor was the rejection of western eclecticism that dominated civil construction of the 1850s–1860s, a reaction against "decadent West", pioneered by influential critic Vladimir Stasov.

Ivan Zabelin, a theorist of the movement, declared that "Russian Khoromy, grown naturally from peasants' log cabins, retained the spirit of beautiful disorder... Beauty of a building is not in its proportions, but on the contrary, in the difference and independence of its parts" ("русские хоромы, выросшие органически из крестьянских клетей, естественно, сохраняли в своем составе облик красивого беспорядка... По понятиям древности первая красота здания заключалась не в соответствии частей, а напротив в их своеобразии, их разновидности и самостоятельности").Russian: Власов, В.Г., "Большой энциклопедический словарь изобразительного искусства", 2000, ст."Псевдо-русский стиль" As a result, "ropetovschina", as Ropet's foes branded his style, concentrated on hoarding together vivid but not matching pieces of vernacular architecture, notably high-pitched roofs, barrel roofs and wood tracery. Wood was the preferred material, since many fantasies could not be physically built in masonry. This was good and bad for "dopetovschina". Bad, because wooden structures, especially those unconventionally shaped, were not scalable and had a very short life span. Very few survive to date. Good, because speed of construction and unorthodox looks were a perfect match for exhibition pavilions, coronation stands and similar short-term projects. The trend continued into 20th century (Fyodor Schechtel)[http://www.muar.ru/ve/expo/07.htm 1901 draft] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020904231950/http://www.muar.ru/ve/expo/07.htm |date=4 September 2002 }} and 1920s (Ilya Golosov).[http://www.muar.ru/ve/expo/25.htm 1923 draft] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013051340/http://www.muar.ru/ve/expo/25.htm |date=13 October 2006 }}

For a short time in the 1880s, a less radical version of Pseudo-Russian style, based on copying 17th century brick architecture, almost succeeded as the new official art. These buildings were built, as a rule, from the brick or whitestone, with the application of modern construction technology they began to be abundantly decorated in the traditions of Russian popular architecture. The characteristic architectural elements of this time, such as "pot-bellied" columns, low arched ceilings, narrow window-loop holes, tented roofs, frescoes with floral designs, use of multicolored tiles and massive forging, are manifest both in the external and in the internal decoration of these structures. A typical example is the Historical Museum (1875–1881, architect Vladimir Sherwood) which completed the ensemble of Red Square.

Image:St. Nicholas Perervinsky monastery Николо-Перервинский монастырь.jpg

At the turn of the centuries, the Russian Orthodox Church experienced a new trend; construction of unusually large cathedrals in working-class suburbs of big cities. Some, like Dorogomilovo Ascension Cathedral (1898–1910), rated for 10,000 worshippers, were launched in quiet country outskirts that increased in population by the time of completion. Christian theorists explain the choice of such remote locations with the desire to extend the reach of Church to working class, and only working class, in the time when wealthier classes stepped away from it.Russian: Елена Лебедева, "Храм Богоявления Господня в Дорогомилове", [http://www.pravoslavie.ru/jurnal/070119140654 www.pravoslavie.ru] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225052701/http://www.pravoslavie.ru/jurnal/070119140654 |date=25 February 2007 }} Byzantine architecture was a natural choice for these projects. It was a clear statement of national roots, against the modern European heresies. It was also much cheaper than grand Neoclassical cathedrals, both in initial costs and subsequent maintenance. The largest examples of this type were all completed after the Russian Revolution of 1905:

• Dorogomilovo Cathedral, Moscow, 1898–1910
• Our Lady of Iveron Cathedral in Nikolo-Perervinsky Monastery Cathedral, Pererva (now Moscow) 1904–1908
• Kronstadt Naval Cathedral, 1908–1913

• Rogozhskoye Cemetery belltower by Fyodor Gornostaev, 1908–1913
• Balakovo church by Fyodor Schechtel, 1909–1912
• Emperor railway station in Pushkin town, 1912
• St.Nicholas church by Belorusskaya Zastava in Moscow, 1914–1921

File:Schechtels Odintsovo Pavilion.jpg|Odintsovo

File:St.Basil of Caeasarea in Tverskaya, 1905.jpg|Church of St.Basil of Caesarea

File:Храм Христа Спасителя (Борки).jpg|Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Borky

File:Mayakosky theatre (Paradise).jpg|Mayakovsky Theatre

File:Moscow, 1896 coronation stand, by Fyodor Schechtel.jpg|Pavilion at the Triumfalnaya Square

File:Церковь на Боровой.jpg|{{Ill|Pokrov church|ru|Покровская церковь на Боровой улице}}

File:La rue des nations. Façade de la section russe.jpg|Russian pavilion at the Exposition Universelle (1878)

File:Russian section at 1893 World's fair.jpeg|Russian pavilion at the World's Columbian Exposition (1893)

File:Le pavillon de la Russie à l'exposition universelle de Paris en 1900.jpg|Russian pavilion at the Exposition Universelle (1900)

File:GUM Moskau2.jpg|GUM (department store)

File:Korsh Theatre 2015-09-28.jpg|Theatre of Nations

File:Церковь Пантелеймона целителя при доме призрения.jpg|Church of the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon in Udelnaya

File:Moscow, Timiryazev Museum 01.jpg|{{Ill|Timiryazev Museum|ru|Биологический музей имени К. А. Тимирязева}}

File:Saint-Pétersbourg - Basin.jpg|Basin house, St. Petersburg

File:Музей Политехнический.JPG|Polytechnic Museum

File:Apartment house Nikonov NN neo-Russian style - panoramio.jpg|The Nikonov building from Saint Petersburg

File:Moscow Kazansky railway station asv2019-06.jpg|Moscow Kazansky railway station

File:Rizhskaya.jpg|Rizhsky station

File:Доходный дом Московской духовной консистории 01.jpg|{{Ill|Moscow Spiritual Consistorium|ru|Здание Московской духовной консистории}}

File:Samara. Drama Theatre P8160481 2200.jpg|{{Ill|Maksim Gorky Samara Academic Drama Theatre|ru|Самарский театр драмы имени М. Горького}}

File:Moscow, Novaya Basmannaya 23-1 July 2015 03.JPG|{{Ill|Shibaevs’ estate|ru|Усадьба Шибаевых}}

File:Отделение Центрального банка Российской Федерации.jpg|Central Bank branch, Oryol

File:Church of the Dormition SPB 01.jpg|{{Ill|Church of the Assumption (Saint Petersburg)|ru|Успенская церковь на Васильевском острове|lt=Church of the Assumption}}, Saint Petersburg

File:Дом купца Г.М. Голованова.jpg|Golovanov House, Tomsk

File:Former Lenin museum (Moscow) by shakko 01.jpg|Moscow City Duma

File:Moscow 09-13 img20 Grand Kremlin Palace.jpg|Grand Kremlin Palace

File:Abramtsevo wooden building.jpg|Abramtsevo Colony

File:Moscow, Archangel Michael church (3).jpg|Church of Archangel Michael

File:Meshchansky District, Moscow, Russia - panoramio (198).jpg|{{Ill|Miansarova-Gutman house|ru|Доходный дом Миансаровой}}

File:Санкт-Петербург, Гутуевская церковь (2).jpg|Church of the Epiphany

File:Crimea South Coast 04-14 img12 Yalta Alexander Nevsky Church.jpg|Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Yalta

File:Нижний Новгород. Главный ярмарочный дом (2018).jpg|Nizhny Novgorod Fair

File:Spb 06-2017 img17 Suvorov Museum.jpg|Suvorov Museum

File:Церковь Воздвижения Животворящего Креста Господня.JPG|{{Ill|Holy Cross Church in Darna|ru|Крестовоздвиженская церковь в Дарне}}

File:NN BolPokrovskaya Street 08-2016 img2.jpg|Head office of the State Bank of Russian Empire in Nizhny Novgorod

File:Church of the Epiphany (Irkutsk).jpg|Epiphany Cathedral (1718), Irkutsk

File:1-й Хвостов переулок 5.jpg|Modern House "Теремок" in Moscow

File:Saint Mary Magdalene Church 2013-04-15.jpg|Church of Mary Magdalene, Jerusalem

File:Altai filarmonia.jpg|Philharmonic building, Barnaul

File:Chelyabinsk Alexander Nevsky Church (The Organ Hall) from the south.jpg|Church of Alexander Nevsky, Chelyabinsk

File:Berezovka-2009-06-18.jpg|Temple of Demetrius of Thessaloniki, Lipetsk Oblast

File:Church of Resurrection of Christ, near Warsaw Rail Terminal.jpg|Church of Resurrection of Christ, Saint Petersburg

{{Portal bar|Russia|Architecture}}

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• Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Samara)
• Russian neoclassical revival
• National Romantic style
• Postconstructivism

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